It was a Pentecost bloodbath and most Christians never heard about it. More than 50 Christians were killed in one of the deadliest terror attacks on Nigerians this year. Scores of gunmen rushed in to kill Christians in the midst of worship.
All told, over 360 million Christians suffered high levels of persecution and/or discrimination for their faith between November 2020 and September 2021, according to Open Doors’ World Watch List.
In the 2022 World Watch List top 50 countries alone, 312 million Christians suffered high or extreme levels of persecution and/or and discrimination for their faith. That’s one in seven Christians, worldwide, one in five in Africa, two in five in Asia and one in fifteen in Latin America.
Nearly 6,000 Christians were killed for their faith in that same time period. That’s an increase of 24% over 2021. Seventy-nine percent of the killings were in Nigeria. Pakistan came in second with 11%. Over 5,000 churches or Christian buildings were attacked. Nearly 5,000 Christians were detained for their faith, and almost 4,000 were abducted for faith-related reasons.
Afghanistan is number one on the 2022 World Watch List, the first time in two decades North Korea hasn’t been number one. This is because of the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021, making a deadly situation for Christians even worse. For the second year in a row, Nigeria was the most violent place in the world for Christians. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the place where the most Christians are attacked or violently abused for their faith.
Awakening Prayer Hubs is praying for the persecuted church in July. Please join us for July and beyond. Launch a hub, join a hub or sponsor a hub at www.awakeningprayerhubs.com. You can also join our monthly prayer call here.
Here are some prayer points:
- Repent for apathy in praying for the persecuted church. Rend your heart and ask God to forgive you (see Joel 2:13)
- Surrender afresh and come with willing, obedient hearts to stand in the gap for the persecuted church (see James 4:10; Gal. 2:20; Ezek. 2:30).
- Thank the Lord that He upholds the persecuted church with His Righteous Right hand (see Isa. 40:10).
- Pray God would mantle the persecuted church with His Spirit of might (see Isa. 11:2). Pray He will strengthen their feeble arms and weak knees (see Heb. 12:12).
Click here to read the rest of the prayer points.
